The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Chicago Bulls in a game that many believe could have been an Eastern Conference Finals Preview before the season started. At this point it is more likely that this would be a First Round match-up with Cleveland’s poor start and Chicago’s recent struggles.
The Cavs team that was on the floor last night was far different than the one we saw earlier in the season. Some of that has to do with the new additions to the team. Last night Timofey Mozgov showed what a very large player, who knows where to be and can use the Law of Verticality can have a huge impact on a game. He scored 15 points to go along with 15 rebounds and 2 blocks leading to a positive 15 plus/minus.
J.R. Smith, waiting for Iman Shumpert to join him after the New York Knicks trade, also was highly productive with 20 points on a highly effective 7 – 11 shooting, hitting 6 – 9 three point shots. He also played high energy defense, getting a steal and 3 rebounds.
Yet it wasn’t the addition of talent only that played the biggest role in the Cavaliers dominate win, leading from tip off. The Cavs dominated the game with great ball and player movement, high intensity defense and effort all over the floor.
The ball and player movement clearly involved everyone. While there were times that LeBron James would take over the offense, most of the game players were always involved. It led to all starters scoring 15 or more points. Kyrie Irving had 12 assists to go along with LeBron’s 4.
The defense was stellar. On the ball defenders harassed Bulls players while help side defense around to cause even more havoc. They forced Derrick Rose to shoot 5 – 14, with 3 of his makes being from beyond the arc. Jimmy Butler shot 6 – 16, Pau Gasol 4 – 14, Taj Gibson 4 – 10 and Kirk Hinrich 0 – 4. While the Cavs starters were all scoring 15 or more points the Bulls starters shot a combined 19 – 58 for 33% shooting.
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While hustle is hard to define in numbers we can look at rebounding numbers to get a good idea. The Cavs out rebounded the Bulls 54 to 40 but it wasn’t just the overall rebounding that is impressive. The Cavs 20 offensive rebounds, 9 more than the Bulls, show how great the Cavs effort was. That kind of effort often makes the difference between wins and losses, especially in playoff series.
If the Cavs can get this kind of effort, defense and ball/player movement success is far more likely this season. Unfortunately the Cavs have not always competed at that level. Sometimes it has been related to injuries, sometimes it is about comfort with each other and sometimes it has been just a poor lack of effort. Hopefully that has all changed with the return of LeBron and the addition of Smith, Mozgov and Shumpert.
Do you think the Cavs can keep up this level of defense, movement and effort?
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